Self-conditioning expansion joint



Aug. 26, 197141. 'AJ C.- FlscHER SELF-CONDITIONING ExPA-NsIoNVJoINT Y Filed ual-cn '7,V 1959 2 sheets-sheet 1 4 SPI/A l. 1

, ,L u v m flake Aug. 26, 1941.

A. c. FISCHER SELFCONDITIONING EXPANSION JOINT Filed liaxch ",V 193.9

2 Shee ts-Sheet 2 M?? www 3 u 78T I m P Rs A R m n 6 M.

SPO/V65 FUERA' l I m78 a M m E F P r S L T A z L m l 57d n A F/BRE 4s PHA L 7' Co/vckcrl l JH.

e e 2e Patented Allg. 26, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,253,513 sELF- CONDITIONING EXPANSION JOINT Albert drischer, chicago, nl. Application March 7, 1939, Serial No. 260,443

claims.

This invention relates to the method of and materials for use in establishing waterproofing expansion and other joints between members of masonry structures, sections of paving and other structures; and particularly joints of the kind which employ slab-like bodies of asphaltic or other plastic material in making up the joint.

VIt has long been the practice to pre-form at a'place selected for convenient manufacture and ship to the place of use the bodies of plastic material used in constructing the joints'in question, but considerable inconvenience and diiiiculty has beenexperienced in so doing,owin`g to the wide difference between the degree of plasticity of the body which is 'bestfor shipment and handling and the condition of plasticity in which the body must exist While in use, if it is to fully serve'the purposes for `which it is intended. For instance, if an asphaltic body is initially made soft and pliable or has a degree of inherent plasticity suiiicient to enable it to readily conform to surfaces to which it must adhere in effecting a waterproof joint; or a plasticity Which renders it 4readily responsive to changing distances between the members between which it is located, it becomes quite difcult to so protect the plastic body during shipment and lhandling as to prevent it from losing its appropriate shape, especially `during higher climatic temperatures. Accordingly, the present invention contemplates ment, and preferably the pared in the form of asphaltic or other plastic waterproof material having an appropriate point of fusion or plasticity, is mixed with a suitable llersuch as liber, diatomaceous earth, fullers earth, shoddy dust, or pulverized calcium carbonate or other stone, in proportions which, in accordance with the present invention will leave the body with a relatively low degree of plasticity; these bodies are shipped to the place of use whilein thi-s state of low plasticity and relative immunity to deforming influences; and then introduced `into position between the sections of paving or other masonry,

accompanied by a solvent or equivalent rectifying material, capable of imparting to the plastic body, by a gradual process of absorption, the degree of plasticity which the plastic body should have in use; for instance by loading the Yrectifying fluid into one or more plate-like bodies of fibrous or other cellular material adapted to remain in contact with one or more faces of the plastic material and transfer the iiuid to the latter.

The invention further contemplates construcing a ,waterproofing or expansion joint of the kind herein set forth with spaces or cavities or appropriately distributed compressible bodies capable of yielding and forming cavities in such communication or relation to the body of plastic material, when in use, as will admit material of the plastic body, under pressure, such as would develop from thermal expansion of the two structural members between which the joint is located, .and thereby limit the portion of the plastic matcrial which, under conventional conditions,. extrudes from the space of the joint, for instance, at

j the surface of a pavement containing the expansion joint or upon the surface of a wall containing the waterproofing joint and thus conserving the material of the plastic body for its intended purposes rather than letting it go to waste.

In the accompanying drawings which show a number of embodimentsY of the invention by way of illustration, Y

Figures 1 and 1a aresectional views of 'one embodiment of the invention in which two vehicles of solvent are located on either side o1 the asphaltic packing body; Fig. 1 showing the members of the vjoint in their initial condition before introduction into the place of use and Fig. la showing the embodiment in position of use between two sections of concrete paving.

Figures 2 and 2a are views corresponding to Figures 1 and la. in which the members of the joint are modified to the extent of providing, bodies, recesses into which plastic material may flow under pressure 'incident to the use of the joint.

Figures 3 and 3a are views showing, before and during use, an embodiment of the invention inwhich the plastic element of the joint is subdivided into 2 slabs and-the solvent vehicle` is located between these slabs.

Figures 4 and 4a are before use and while in use respectively, in which recesses for the reception of displaced portions of the plastic body are provided through means of suitably distributed metallic shells; Fig.` 4b being a detailed View of such a shell on an views of an embodiment i Vpartmto thebodi7 a relatively of the joint. v

scale showing the means employed forv to provide relief spaces for surplus plastic material displaced under the pressure of use. Y

Figures 6 and 6a. are views similar to Figures V4, 4a. and 5, 5a. in which recesses providing relief for displaced plastic material, are formed in. the plastic material itself and adapted toVA be` closed up by the flow of the plastic material under pressure incident to use, and thereby restrict the proportion of plastic material extruded from the joint to a position Awhere it is wasted.

Referring `to Figures 1 and 1a, l represents a plate or slab-like body of plastic material made in accordance with Vthe known practiceof asphaltic material and a ller in sufficient proportions to render to the body a form that will be retained under normal influences of vtemperatureppressure incident to packing and, handling, andinherent weight of the material when standing ,on edge. VAs ordinarily made, a plastic plate of this Vkind may be introduced between portions of a wall ror .other masonry structure, sections of ,concretepaving or other similar situations for the purpose of making a joint that will be Ywaterproof and may expand and contract under the Vconditionsof use. In order to best serve its functions inuse, plate l, according to practice prior tothe present invention, has been Vmade with a` degree of inherentplasticity that imposes considerable difficulty in maintaining the shape of the article when, exposed Vto atmospheric heat or deforrning forces incident to shipment and handling. According to the present invention, thebodyo Yl is madey with `a degree of inherent plasticity, Vfor instance, by selecting proportions of asphalt and solvent, or proportions of asphaltic material and nller, or selectively determining both said factors ,in a manner to lend to the body such aV minor degree of inherent plasticity as will leave it self-sustaining in form and immune `to deteriorating physical forces encountered in shipment and manipulation; and in'lieu or initially lending to the body the degree of relatively high inherent `plasticity appropriate to the functions which it is intended to serve in use, the present invention provides means for rendering the body self-conditioning. The self-conditioning means may consist of any adjunctive device which will impartvto the body of low plasticity, a solvent or iiuid ingredient that will im- Y higher degree of plasticity; ,such means being preferably 'one or 4more* vehicular bodies,- layers, strata or the like capable of containing Vconditioning fluid and keeping it in such relation to the plastic body as will insure Vits transfer to the plasticbody under the principle o f absorption; thisV absorption preferably kto be carried on gradually;- and preferably ,also, over a period of fmesufciently protracted to maintain a desired'degree of `plasticity and thereby prolong rduration of ideal conditions `in ,the plasti body; in'other words, prolong the life According to the preferred application of the operative principle oi the invention and that y fragments `of two vte'rnal Vfaces of plastic body may form which, with several modifications of details, is herein presented for purposes of illustration, the vehicular conditioning means may consist in one or more fibrous or other porous slab-like bodies 2 contiguous to the plastic body I and so saturated with the uid ingredient relied upon to render the plastic body self-conditioning, that transfer of said ingredient from the vehicular body to the plastic body may take place under the active principle of absorption. According to Figures 1 and 2, a vehicular body 2 is located on either side of the plastic body I and the three bodies constitute a packing adapted to be introduced between two bodies of masonry, sections of paving or the like, as illustrated, for instance, in Fig. 1a, where A, A represent subdivisions of concrete paving. Fig. 1a also illustrates the results of compression that has taken place in the packing l, 2, for instance, under pressure resulting from thermal expansion of the paving members A, A in use; the principal phenomena resulting from which are increasedV intimacy in the presentation of the conditioning ingredient to the asphaltic body and Vextrusion of a portion of the asphaltic `body upon one margin of the joint (as shown at 3) where it mushrooms or iiows over ther-joint ina manner to hermetically seal the latter and render it proof against admission of water, which under freezing or other conditions might 'tend to disrupt' the joint. f

Figures 2, 2a represent .substantially Vthe same joint as that shown in Figures 1, 1a with Vthe addition of illustrative meansY for taking upa portion of the plastic'materialY displaced or caused to flow'under'pressure incident to use and thereby'lirniting extrusion of plastic material to that neededfor sealing the margin of the joint;. these means consisting in this instance of recesses 4, formed' in'those faces of the fibrous vehicular base 2a,` which are' presented to the lateralffaces ofthe'plastic body lal so that, as shown in Fig. 2c,

deformation of the plastic body under pressure incident'to use, will cause said plastic body to owinto said recesses 4 and by thus compensating'for reduction of ltransversed dimension -of the plastic body prevent excessive extrusion of the 'material of said body at 3a.

I As shown in Figures 3 and 3a, it is not necessary that the vehicular bodiesbe applied toeX- the plastic body. Instead, the be divided into'2 slabs Ib and have a single vehicular body 2b located between them where by contiguity between the bodies, the saturated body will give oi to both subdivisions of the plastic body the conditioning fluid inzaccordance wtih the principle of the invention. Where the plastic body is subdivided, as

. shown in 'Fig'., deformation or flowing thereof urider pressure incident to use causes extrusion from both of the subdivisions, as shown at 3b in Fig. 3a, where the extruded portions'fold over ,the margin of the lorousV vehicular body 'and sealthe latter against the admission ofmoisture.

:In Fig.3a the sections of concrete, between which the Vjoint is formed, are indicated at A2; the-subdivided sections vof theasphaltic body are `indicated at Ib and the single intermediatebody of iiber or other porous material; thatcarries the conditioning :fluid is indicated at 2b.

f' According to Figures 4 and 4a, means other than that of forming recesses in the constituent joint, may be employed material flowing vFor instance, a

physical elements of the for taking up surplus plastic under pressure incident to use.

`when added to a blown,

plurality of lboxes of minor dimensions may be suitably distributed in receiving relation to `surfaces of the subdivided slab-like plastic bodies lc, for instance, by providing the boxes With tangs 6 embedded in the surfaces of the plastic material at suitable points to hold the boxes in place until the material of the paving is .feast about the boxes after which, of course, the boxes are permanently held in position to receive displaced portions of the plastic material and thereby partially compensate for the reduction of transverse dimensions of the plastic material under the pressure of use, as illustrated `in Fig. 4a and prevent excessive extrusion and waste of the plastic material at 3c without, however, unduly detracting from the flow of such plastic material at 3c, required for rendering the joint Water tight.

. As shown in Figures 5 and 5a, provision of compensating recesses for displaced plastic material may be provided by distributing an appropriate number of bodies 1, of compressible material (for example, sponge rubber) over the surfaces of the plastic slabs ld, and securing the same in position by any suitable means such, for instance, as tacks 8, so that while lending form tot the cast concrete A4 and preventing obliteration of the desired spaces, said compressible bodies will yield nevertheless to pressure of the flowing plastic material and (as shown in Fig. 5a.) by ycompensating for the displaced material will prevent excessive extrusion at the point 3d.

Figures 6 and 6a show a joint corresponding in principle -to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, but having pockets 9 molded in the plastic body le so that the body of plastic material, as shown in Fig. 6a, may now in a direction to close these pockets and by resultant compensation prevent excessive extrusion at the mushroom 3e under pressure imposed by the paving sections A5 as shown in said figure.

As an illustrative material suitable for use in producing the plastic body entering into a selfconditioning expansion joint in accordance with the present invention, take a mixture composed of 70% asphalt, 10% fiber, and 20% mineral filler. The asphalt will preferably have a melting point of from 200 to 400 F. and having its degree of toughness, hardness or plasticity determined by proper selection of a melting point within this range or by adding lower melting point asphalt or higher melting point asphalt as may be found more convenient. To this asphalt, may also be added, Gilsonite, say, in a proportion which, crude asphalt having a melting point of 250 F., will produce a tough consistency. 'I'he fiber entering into the formula may be wood, digested to remove its legume or corn stalk liber or cane fiber or even mineral fiber; the ber being worked to subdivide it into a cellular structure or structure having a large part of its volume made up of interstices into which the asphalt may enter when mixed therewith. The mineral may be pulverized limestone.

The vehicular body of fibrous material which carries the conditioning fluid may consist of fibrous materials already referred to, properly formed into mats or other bodies with structural integrity subjected to impregnation by the conditioning liquid and pressed or otherwise treated to regulate the amount of conditioning liquid carried by each unit of the vehicle. Commercially available porous, fibrous bodies having inherent structural integrity may be employed as the vehicular elements of the joint, for instance,

oil. Where the cost y urant or automatically conditioning element of 3 Maizewood, Celotex, Fir Tex, gypsum board, masonite, etc. The plate, board, or the like constituting the vehicular element may be from onefourth of an inch to one inch in thickness according to circumstances.

A suitable formula for the saturant or automatically conditioning element of the joint would be mineral spirits containing from 35% to 45% bituminous material or 35% to 40% polymerized is not prohibitive the satthe joint could be supplied by vegetable oil in its natural state with or without a preservative percentage of mineral oil or other preservative. The present invention contemplates the use of a retardant for regulating the flow of dilutant or automatic conditioner to the asphaltic body and this retardant may serve as a means for cementing the sides of the vehicular bodies of fiber board or the like porous sheet material, to the sides of the asphaltic body. For instance, in the loading of the ber board with the dilutant solvent or conditioning fluid, a vegetable oil or mineral oil base may be used; and rubber cement, bakelite coating binder and various other binders which may 'be used for the purpose of painting one of the surfaces through which said fibrous sheet and asphalt body oppose u'each other and which, by reason of the pores in the surface of the fibrous sheet, will not wholly seal said surface b-ut have the elfect, merely, of retarding, to a greater or lesser degree, the passage of this conditioning fluid to the plastic material. By the same means the quantity of saturant or conditioning fluid remaining in the vehicular body after charging and the prolongation of supply to the plastic body while in use may be regulated. The greater the volume of oil permitted to remain, the greater Will be the softening effect upon the plastic composition reckoned from the initial degree of hardness of said composition. Wherev the saturant is very light and little oil remains in the fibrous vehicular structure after pressure thereon, the more porous may be the structure and the less may of flow of oil to the plastic composition. In any case retardants will be regulated to have their effect upon the flow of conditioning oil for a limited period only.

I claim:

l. A self-conditioning expansion joint comprising a slab of packing material having the vcapacity to absorb a solvent and thereby acquire inherent plasticity and a vehicular body contiguous to said slab carrying an appropriate solvent and presenting the same in position to respond to the absorptive iniluence of the slab.

2. A self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim l in which the vehicular material is of brous constituency.

3. A self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim 1 in which the vehicular material comprises a felted fibrous mass having inherent structural integrity and adhered to and structurally sustaining the packing slab.

4. A self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim 1 in which the packing slab has a body of vehicular material on each side thereof.

5. A self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim 1 in which the vehicular material has upon its face presented toward the packing slab, means retarding the escape of solvent from the vehicular material to the said slab; and said vehicle material and slab being `are between afsuriace of Vand a section ofV masonry.

4 adhered together through Athe medium of said means. 1

6; A self-conditioning expansion joint comprising a slab of packing material having the capacity of absorbing an appropriate solvent and acquiring inherent plasticity therefrom and. a vehicular body containing solvent and presenting the same in position to respond to absorptive iniiuence of the packing body; said. joint being vadapted to be positioned between sections of masonry in a manner to subject both the packing material and the vehicular material to pressure imposed by the sections of masonry; and one of `'said materials being constructed with recesses in position to admit iiow of packing material under such pressure and thereby limit the packing material extruded from the joint.

'LA self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim 6 in which the recesses are formed in a face of the vehicular material which `is presented to a lateral face of the packing material.

8. A self-conditioning expansion joint as described in claim 6 in which adjunctive devices dene the recesses for the reception of flowing packing material and these adjunctive devices the packing material ,1 '9. A selfconditionng expansion'joint Vas described inclaim 6' in which adjunctive vdevices Ydefine the recesses for the reception of flowing packing material and these adjunctive devices vare between a surface of the packing material and a section of masonry and consist of bodies of Vmaterial having inherently a degree of compres- Vsibility that permits them to yield to the pressure under 'whichthe packing material ows, and vthereby afford spaces into which the packing material may'flowand restrict the amount of packing material excluded from the joint.

Y10. A self-conditioning joint for use between sections of masonry, said joint comprising a slab of plastic material having an initial degree of plasticity of a relatively low order and a porous Vehicular body of material charged with a conditioning iiuidvthat is presented by said vehicular body into a relation to the plastic body that Vcauses transfer of the conditioning fluid by the process oi absorption; said joint having between said vehicular body and said slab a retardant that limits the rate of iiow without wholly interrupting the passage of the conditioning medium to the plastic body.

c ALBERT C. FISCHER. 

